Vicksburg is a historic city in
Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 21,573 at the
2020 census.
Located on a high
bluff on the east bank of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
across from
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
, Vicksburg was built by French colonists in 1719. The outpost withstood an attack from the native
. It was incorporated as Vicksburg in 1825 after
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
missionary Newitt Vick. The area that is now Vicksburg was long occupied by the
Natchez as part of their historical territory along the Mississippi. The first
Europeans
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...
who settled the area were
French colonists who built
Fort Saint Pierre
Fort Saint Pierre on Rainy Lake was the first French fort built west of Lake Superior. It was the first of eight forts built during Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, the elder Vérendrye's expansion of trade and exploration wes ...
in 1719 on the high bluffs overlooking the
Yazoo River at present-day
Redwood
Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...
. They conducted
fur trading
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
with the Natchez and others, and started plantations. During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, it was a key Confederate river-port, and its
July 1863 surrender to
Ulysses S. Grant, along with the concurrent
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...
, marked the turning-point of the war.
After the war came the
Reconstruction era
The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...
and then a violent return to power by white
supremacists in 1874 and 1875, including the
Vicksburg massacre. Today, Vicksburg's population is majority
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
. The city is home to three large installations of the
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
, which has often been involved in local flood control.
History
First people
The area that is now Vicksburg was long occupied by the
Natchez Native Americans as part of their historical territory along the Mississippi. The Natchez spoke a language isolate not related to the
Muskogean languages of the other major tribes in the area. Before the Natchez, other indigenous cultures had occupied this strategic area for thousands of years.
European settlement
The first
Europeans
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...
who settled the area were
French colonists who built
Fort Saint Pierre
Fort Saint Pierre on Rainy Lake was the first French fort built west of Lake Superior. It was the first of eight forts built during Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, the elder Vérendrye's expansion of trade and exploration wes ...
in 1719 on the high bluffs overlooking the Yazoo River at present-day
Redwood
Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...
. They conducted
fur trading
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
with the Natchez and others, and started plantations. On 29 November 1729, the Natchez
attacked the fort and plantations in and around the present-day city of
Natchez. They murdered several hundred settlers, including
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionary Paul Du Poisson. As was the custom, they violently took a number of women and children as captives, adopting them into their families.
The Natchez War was a disaster for French Louisiana, and the colonial population of the Natchez District never recovered. Aided by the
Choctaw
The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...
, traditional enemies of the Natchez, though, the French defeated and scattered the Natchez and their allies, the
Yazoo.
The Choctaw Nation took over the area by right of conquest and inhabited it for several decades. Under pressure from the US government, the Choctaw agreed to cede nearly of land to the US under the terms of the
Treaty of Fort Adams in 1801. The treaty was the first of a series that eventually led to the
removal of most of the Choctaw to
Indian Territory
Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...
west of the Mississippi River in 1830. Some Choctaw remained in Mississippi, citing article XIV of the
Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek; they became citizens of the state and the United States. They struggled to maintain their culture against the pressure of the binary slave society, which classified people as only white or black.
In 1790, the Spanish founded a military outpost on the site, which they called
Fort Nogales (''nogales'' meaning "walnut trees"). When the Americans took possession in 1798 following the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
and a treaty with Spain, they changed the name to
Walnut Hills. The small village was incorporated in 1825 as Vicksburg, named after Newitt Vick, a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
minister who had established a Protestant mission on the site.

The town of Vicksburg was incorporated in 1825, with a population of 3,000 people; of which approximately twenty people were
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and had immigrated from
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
,
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
, and
Alsace–Lorraine.
In 1835, during the
Murrell Excitement, a mob from Vicksburg attempted to expel the gamblers from the city, because the citizens were tired of the rougher element treating the city residents with contempt. They captured and hanged five gamblers who had shot and killed a local doctor. Historian Joshua D. Rothman calls this event "the deadliest outbreak of extralegal violence in the slave states between the
Southampton Insurrection and the Civil War."
In 1862, fifty Jewish families formed the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Anshe Chesed in Vicksburg, and received a charter from the state.
Two years later in 1864, the
Anshe Chesed Cemetery was formed, and it was the second
Jewish cemetery in the city; not much is known about the first Jewish cemetery.
The Confederate president,
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...
, was based at his family plantation at
Brierfield, just south of the city.
Civil War
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
(1861–1865), the city finally surrendered during the
Siege of Vicksburg, after which the
Union Army gained control of the entire Mississippi River. The 47-day siege was intended to starve the city into submission. Its location atop a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River proved otherwise impregnable to assault by federal troops. The surrender of Vicksburg by Confederate General
John C. Pemberton on July 4, 1863, together with the defeat of General
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...
at
Gettysburg the day before, has historically marked the
turning point of the Civil War in the Union's favor.
From the surrender of Vicksburg until the end of the war in 1865, the area was under Union military occupation.
Celebrations of the 4th of July, the day of surrender, were irregular until 1947. The ''
Vicksburg Evening Post'' of July 4, 1883, called July 4 "the day we don't celebrate", and another Vicksburg newspaper, the ''Daily Commercial Appeal'', in 1888 hoped that a political victory would bring an enthusiastic celebration the following year. In 1902, the 4th of July saw only "a parade of colored draymen". In 1947, the Jackson ''Clarion-Ledger'' stated that the city of Vicksburg did not celebrate the 4th of July again until 1945, and then it was celebrated as Confederate Carnival Day. A recent scholar disagrees, stating that large Fourth of July celebrations were being held by 1907, and informal celebrations before that. A large parade was held in 1890.
Loss of Mississippi access and commercial status

Because of Vicksburg's location on the Mississippi River, it built extensive trade from the prodigious
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
traffic in the 19th century. It shipped out cotton coming to it from surrounding counties and was a major trading city in West Central Mississippi.
However, in 1876, a Mississippi River flood cut off the large
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...
next to Vicksburg through the De Soto Point, which changed the Mississippi River's course away from the city. Vicksburg only retained access to an
oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...
formed from the old channel of the river, which effectively isolated the city from accessing the Mississippi riverfront. The city's economy suffered greatly due to the lack of a functional river port; Vicksburg would not be a river town again until the completion of the Yazoo Diversion Canal in 1903 by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Political and racial unrest after Civil War
In the first few years after the Civil War, white Confederate veterans developed the
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
, beginning in Tennessee; it had chapters throughout the South and attacked freedmen and their supporters. It was suppressed about 1870. By the mid-1870s, new white
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
groups had arisen in the
Deep South
The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...
, including the
Red Shirts in Mississippi, as whites struggled to regain political and social power over the black majority. Elections were marked by violence and fraud as white Democrats worked to suppress black Republican voting.
In August 1874, a black sheriff,
Peter Crosby, was elected in Vicksburg. Letters by a white planter, Batchelor, detail the preparations of whites for what he described as a "race war," including acquisition of the newest Winchester guns. On December 7, 1874, white men disrupted a black Republican meeting celebrating Crosby's victory and held him in custody before running him out of town. He advised blacks from rural areas to return home; along the way, some were attacked by armed whites. During the next several days, armed white mobs swept through black areas, killing other men at home or out in the fields, in what would come to be known as the
Vicksburg massacre. Sources differ as to total fatalities, with 29–50 blacks and 2 whites reported dead at the time. Twenty-first-century historian Emilye Crosby estimates that 300 blacks were killed in the city and the surrounding area of
Claiborne County, Mississippi.
[Emilye Crosby, ''Little Taste of Freedom: The Black Freedom Struggle in Claiborne County, Mississippi''](_blank)
, Univ of North Carolina Press, 2006, p. 3 The Red Shirts were active in Vicksburg and other Mississippi areas, and black pleas to the federal government for protection were not met.
At the request of Republican Governor
Adelbert Ames, who had left the state during the violence, President
Ulysses S. Grant sent federal troops to Vicksburg in January 1875. In addition, a congressional committee investigated what was called the "Vicksburg Riot" at the time (and reported as the "Vicksburg massacre" by northern newspapers.) Testimony from both black and white residents was given, as reported by the ''New York Times'', but no one was ever prosecuted for the deaths. The Red Shirts and other white
insurgents suppressed Republican voting by both whites and blacks; smaller-scale riots were staged in the state up to the 1875 elections, at which time white Democrats regained control of a majority of seats in the state legislature.
Under new constitutions, amendments and laws passed between 1890 in Mississippi and 1908 in the remaining southern states, white Democrats
disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites by creating barriers to voter registration, such as
poll taxes,
literacy tests, and
grandfather clauses. They passed
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were U.S. state, state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, "Jim Crow (character), Ji ...
through which they imposed racial segregation of public facilities. In 1908, a publication documented some of Vicksburg's leading African Americans including lawyer and banker
W. E. Mollison.
On March 12, 1894, the popular soft drink
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
was bottled for the first time in Vicksburg by
Joseph A. Biedenharn, a local
confectioner. Today, surviving 19th-century Biedenharn
soda bottle
A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal ...
s are prized by collectors of Coca-Cola memorabilia. The original candy store has been renovated and is used as the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum.
20th century

The exclusion of most blacks from the political system lasted for decades until after Congressional passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s.
Lynchings of blacks and other forms of white racial terrorism against them continued to occur in Vicksburg after the start of the 20th century. In May 1903, for instance, two black men charged with murdering a planter were taken from jail by a mob of 200 farmers and lynched before they could go to trial. In May 1919, as many as a thousand white men broke down three sets of steel doors to abduct, hang, burn and shoot a black prisoner, Lloyd Clay, who was falsely accused of raping a white woman.
From 1877 to 1950 in Warren County, 14 African Americans were lynched by whites, most in the decades near the turn of the century.
The
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
diverted the Yazoo River in 1903 into the old, shallowing channel to revive the waterfront of Vicksburg. The port city was able to receive steamboats again, but much freight and passenger traffic had moved to railroads, which had become more competitive.
Railroad access to the west across the river continued to be by transfer steamers and ferry
barges until a combination railroad-highway bridge was built in 1929. After 1973,
Interstate 20 bridged the river. Freight rail traffic still crosses by the old bridge. North-south transportation links are by the Mississippi River and
U.S. Highway 61. Vicksburg has the only crossing over the Mississippi River between
Greenville and Natchez, and the only interstate highway crossing of the river between
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
and
Memphis.
During the
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, in which hundreds of thousands of acres were inundated, Vicksburg served as the primary gathering point for refugees. Relief parties put up temporary housing, as the flood submerged a large percentage of the
Mississippi Delta.
Because of the overwhelming damage from the flood, the US Army Corps of Engineers established the Waterways Experiment Station as the primary hydraulics laboratory, to develop protection of important croplands and cities. Now known as the
Engineer Research and Development Center, it applies military engineering, information technology, environmental engineering, hydraulic engineering, and geotechnical engineering to problems of flood control and river navigation.
In December 1953, a
severe tornado swept across Vicksburg, causing 38 deaths and destroying nearly 1,000 buildings.During World War II, cadets from the Royal Air Force, flying from their training base at Terrell, Texas, routinely flew to Vicksburg on training flights. The town served as a stand-in for the British for Cologne, Germany, which is the same distance from London, England as Vicksburg is from Terrell.
Particularly after World War II, in which many blacks served, returning veterans began to be active in the civil rights movement, wanting to have full citizenship after fighting in the war. In Mississippi, activists in the Vicksburg Movement became prominent during the 1960s.
Early 21st century
In 2001, a group of Vicksburg residents visited the
Paducah, Kentucky, mural project, looking for ideas for their own community development. In 2002, the Vicksburg Riverfront
mural
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
s program was begun by
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
mural artist
Robert Dafford and his team on the floodwall located on the waterfront in downtown.
["Celebrating Vicksburg: A Great American Community"](_blank)
, Vicksburg Riverfront Murals Subjects for the murals were drawn from the history of Vicksburg and the surrounding area. They include President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
's bear hunt, the
''Sultana'', the
''Sprague'', the
Siege of Vicksburg, the
Kings Crossing site,
Willie Dixon
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...
, the
Flood of 1927, the
1953 Vicksburg, Mississippi tornado,
Rosa A. Temple High School (known for integration activism) and the
Vicksburg National Military Park. The project was finished in 2009 with the completion of the Jitney Jungle/Glass Kitchen mural.
In the fall of 2010, a new 55-foot mural was painted on a section of wall on Grove Hill across the street from the original project by former Dafford muralists Benny Graeff and
Herb Roe. The mural's subject is the annual "Run thru History" held in the Vicksburg National Military Park.
On December 6–7, 2014, a symposium was held on the 140th anniversary of the 1874 riots. A variety of scholars gave papers and an open panel discussion was held on the second day at the Vicksburg National Military Park, in collaboration with the Jacqueline House African American Museum.
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Vicksburg is located at the
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
of the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. Much of the city is on top of a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River. Vicksburg is also served by
Interstate 20. The interstate opens Vicksburg with a
cloverleaf interchange that heads out to
U.S. Route 61 North towards
Rolling Fork, Mississippi,
Clarksdale, Mississippi
Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19t ...
, and stretches out for another 77 miles towards
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
. On the south part of the exit, it heads on
Mississippi Highway 27 towards
Utica, Mississippi. As the interstate goes on it makes interchanges with Clay Street, Indiana Avenue, and Halls Ferry Road. After the downtown interchanges are over, before finally crossing in Louisiana with a
cloverleaf interchange, I-20 makes a
directional T interchange with US-61, and US-61 heads south toward
Port Gibson, Mississippi,
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...
, and then continues for another 92 miles into
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
, Louisiana's capital city. Interstate 20 then continues to head west towards
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical ...
,
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...
,
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, and lastly after 445 miles, making a
trumpet interchange with
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...
in
Toyah, Texas.
Climate
Vicksburg has a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
with mild winters and hot, humid summers.
Demographics
As of the 2022
American Community Survey
The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
, there are 8,092 estimated households in Vicksburg with an average of 2.57 persons per household. The city has a median household income of $45,147. Approximately 25.5% of the city's population lives at or below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
. Vicksburg has an estimated 55.1% employment rate, with 25.3% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 86.1% holding a high school diploma.
The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (94.3%), Spanish (2.9%), Indo-European (1.8%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.1%), and Other (0.8%).
The median age in the city was 37.6 years.
2020 census
As of the
2020 census, there were 21,573 people, 9,277 households, and 5,317 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 10,967 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 28.16%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 67.21%
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.15%
Native American, 0.97%
Asian, 0.00%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.64% from some other races and 2.86% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.87% of the population. 25.2% of residents were under the age of 18, 6.6% were under 5 years of age, and 15.5% were 65 and older.
Economy
The city is home to three large
US Army Corps of Engineers installations: the
Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), which also houses the ERDC's
Waterways Experiment Station; the
Mississippi Valley Division
The United States Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) is responsible for the Corps water resources programs within 370,000-square-miles of the Mississippi River Valley, as well as the watershed portions of the Red River ...
headquarters; and the Vicksburg District headquarters.
The
412th Engineer Command of the
US Army Reserve and the
168th Engineer Brigade of the
Mississippi Army National Guard are also located in Vicksburg.
The
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
's 8th District/Lower Mississippi River sector has an Aids To Navigation unit located in Vicksburg, operating the buoy tending vessel USCGC Kickapoo.
In 2017, Emma Green of ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 185 ...
'' stated, "The
Army Corps of Engineers sustains the town economically". 12.3% of the local workforce is employed by the
federal government
A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
.
Casinos
Vicksburg is the home of four casinos along the Mississippi River.
*
Ameristar Casino Vicksburg
*
Casino Vicksburg (formerly Lady Luck Casino Vicksburg)
* Riverwalk Casino Hotel
* Water View Casino
Arts and culture
Annual cultural events
Every summer, Vicksburg plays host to the Miss Mississippi Pageant and Parade. Also every summer, the Vicksburg Homecoming Benevolent Club hosts a homecoming weekend/reunion that provides scholarships to graduating high-school seniors. Former residents from across the country return for the event.
Every summer since 1936,
Vicksburg Theatre Guild has hosted ''Gold in the Hills'', which holds the
Guinness World Record for longest-running show.
Places of interest
* Vicksburg City Hall, a 1902 Beaux-Arts Classical Revival style, by architect
James Riely Gordon.
*
Anchuca Mansion (1830)
*
Balfour House (1835)
*
Beck House (1875)
*
The Magnolias (c. 1877–1880)
*
McRaven House (c. 1797)
*
Old Court House Museum (1861)
*
Vicksburg National Military Park
**
Pemberton's Headquarters
**
U.S.S. Cairo Gunboat & Museum
*
Vicksburg Riverfront Murals (2002, 2012)
*
Vicksburg Theatre Guild
Government
The city government consists of a mayor who is elected
at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
and two aldermembers elected from
single-member districts, known as wards. The current mayor is
George Flaggs Jr., who defeated former mayor
Paul Winfield in the June 2013 election.
Past mayors include Johnnie Holland 1957–1968 and Nat Bullard 1973–1977.
Robert Major Walker was elected the city's first African American mayor in a special election in 1988 and was re-elected in 1989. He was succeeded by
Joe Loviza who served 1993–1997. Walker was re-elected in 1997.
In 2021 the mayor got a $20,000 pay raise.
Education
K-12 schools

The City of Vicksburg is served by the
Vicksburg-Warren School District.
; High schools
*
Vicksburg High School
** 1988–1989
National Blue Ribbon School
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...
*
Warren Central High School
; Junior high schools
* Vicksburg Junior High School
* Warren Central Junior High School
* Academy of Innovation
; Elementary schools
* Beechwood Elementary School
* Bovina Elementary School
* Bowmar Avenue Magnet School
* Dana Road Elementary School
* Redwood Elementary School
* Sherman Avenue Elementary School
* South Park Elementary School
* Warrenton Elementary School
* Vicksburg Intermediate School
* Warren Central Intermediate School
; Private schools
* Porters Chapel Academy
*
Vicksburg Catholic School - St. Francis Xavier Elementary and Saint Aloysius Catholic High School (of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson)
* Vicksburg Christian Academy
* Vicksburg Community School (K-12)
; Former schools
* Hall's Ferry Road Elementary School
** 1985–1986,
National Blue Ribbon School
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...
* Culkin Elementary School
* Jett Elementary School
* Cedars Elementary School
* Vicksburg Middle School
* All Saints' Episcopal School was a local boarding school located on Confederate Avenue, which closed in 2006 after 98 years in operation. The historic school is now a regional campus for
AmeriCorps NCCC.
* St. Mary's Catholic School served the African-American community.
* McIntyre Elementary School served the African-American community.
* Magnolia Avenue School serviced the African-American community and was renamed Bowman High School to honor a former principal.
*
Rosa A. Temple High School served the African-American community.
* King's Elementary School served the African-American community.
* Carr Central High School.
* J.H. Culkin Academy (grades 1-12 until 1965, thereafter Culkin Elementary School).
*
H.V. Cooper High School. First graduating class 1959.
* Jefferson Davis School.
* Oak Ridge School.
* Eliza Fox School (a.k.a. Grove Street School).
*
All Saints' College. An Episcopal college for white women. Opened in 1908 and closed in 1962.
Colleges and universities
Warren County is in the district of
Hinds Community College.
Media
Newspapers
''The Vicksburg Post'',
formerly the ''Vicksburg Evening Post''.
Radio
Television
Transportation
The
Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad and then the
Illinois Central Railroad for several decades had passenger service through the city, at two different stations, one on Levee Street, and the other on Cherry Street. The IC's ''Planter'' went north to
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
and south to
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
. The Chery Street station hosted the ''
Northeastern Limited'' and an unnamed train east to Jackson and
Meridian (sleeping car passengers could continue to New York; coach passengers could transfer at Meridian's
Union Station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
to an Atlanta and New York bound train there), and the ''
Southwestern Limited'' and another train west to Monroe and
Shreveport's
Union Station
A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
. The final train serving Vicksburg was the ''Southwestern Limited/Northeastern Limited'' in 1967.
Interstate 20 runs east–west through the southern part of Vicksburg.
U.S. Highway 80 runs east–west through the city.
U.S. Highway 61 runs north–south through the city.
The nearest airport with commercial flights is
Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, 53.2 miles to the east of Vicksburg.
Vicksburg Tallulah Regional Airport and
Vicksburg Municipal Airport, to the west and to the south of Vicksburg, are, on the other hand, two
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
airports.
Notable people
*
William Wirt Adams,
Confederate Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...
officer and member of the
Mississippi House of Representatives
The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected for ...
*
Katherine Bailess, actress, singer and dancer
*
Earle Basinsky, crime novelist
*
Ed Bearss (1923–2020),
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
historian
*
Joseph A. Biedenharn (1866–1952), entrepreneur: first bottled
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
in 1894 in Vicksburg
*
Johnny Brewer, football player
*
Margaret Hunt Brisbane (1858–1925), poet
*
Roosevelt Brown, former
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
outfielder for the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...
*
Ellis Burks
Ellis Rena Burks (born September 11, 1964) is an American former outfielder. Burks played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 18 seasons from 1987 to 2004 with the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, and Cle ...
, former
MLB outfielder
*
Charles Burnett, filmmaker
*
Malcolm Butler, cornerback for the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
and
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...
*
Odia Coates, pop singer
*
Rod Coleman, defensive tackle for the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...
*
Caroline Russell Compton, Mississippi artist
*
Mart Crowley, playwright, TV executive
*
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...
, President of the Confederate States of America
*
Bobby DeLaughter, Mississippi state judge and prosecutor
*
Willie Dixon
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...
, blues bassist, singer, songwriter, and producer
*
John "Kayo" Dottley, college and professional football player
*
Myrlie Evers-Williams, civil rights activist and journalist
*
Charley Fuller, former
NFL running back
*
Mark Gray, country music singer, born in Vicksburg
*
Louis Green, linebacker for the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...
*
DeMichael Harris,
wide receiver
A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
for the
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...
*
Milt Hinton, jazz bassist
*
Jay Hopson, football head coach,
University of Southern Mississippi
*
Joseph Holt
Joseph Holt (January 6, 1807 – August 1, 1894) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. As a leading member of the James Buchanan#Administration and Cabinet, Buchanan administration, he succeeded in convincing Buchanan to oppose the ...
, longest-serving
Judge Advocate General of the Army
*
Delbert Hosemann Jr., Lt Governor of Mississippi
*
Hank Jones, jazz pianist, born in Vicksburg
*
Martin F. Jue, amateur radio products inventor, entrepreneur
*
Patrick Kelly, fashion designer
*
Brad Leggett, football player,
Seattle Seahawks
*
George McConnell, former guitarist for
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...
, Kudzu Kings, and Beanland
*
William Michael Morgan, country music singer
*
Michael Myers, defensive tackle for the
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...
*
Key Pittman, U.S. Senator from Nevada, 1913–40; born in Vicksburg
*
Vail M. Pittman,
19th Governor of Nevada
*
Dave Plump, former
NFL defensive back,
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...
*
Evelyn Preer, African-American film actress
*
George Reed former running back for the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...
*
Beah Richards, African-American film and television actress
*
Kee Sloan, Episcopal priest and eleventh
Bishop of Alabama
*
Roy C. Strickland, businessman and politician in
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
and
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
*
Taylor Tankersley,
Florida Marlins relief pitcher
*
John Thomas, former
MLB player
*
Mary T. Washington, the first African-American woman
CPA
*
Carl Westcott, entrepreneur, founder of 1-800-Flowers and Westcott Communications
*
Delmon Young, outfielder for the
Philadelphia Phillies
*
Dmitri Young, first baseman for the
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...
*
Jaelyn Young, pleaded guilty to charges relating to her attempts to join
ISIS
Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
Cultural references
* Vicksburg is mentioned in the
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
winning
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
''
Crimes of the Heart'' by Beth Henley.
* Several
delta blues songs mention Vicksburg, including
Charley Patton's "
High Water Everywhere" and
Robert Johnson's "
Traveling Riverside Blues".
* The city is mentioned multiple times in the series of books surrounding the Logan family, including ''
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry'' (1976) and ''
Let The Circle Be Unbroken'' (1981), by
Mildred Taylor.
* A made-for-TV movie version of ''
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
''I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' is a 1969 autobiography describing the young and early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a Maya Angelou#Chronology of autobiographies, seven-volume series, it is a Bildungsroman, ...
'', based on
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...
's memoir, was filmed in Vicksburg.
* ''
O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' was filmed in Vicksburg. The Stokes campaign dinner was filmed in the Southern Cultural Heritage Center's auditorium.
* The hospital stairway scene from ''
Mississippi Burning'' was filmed in the Southern Cultural Heritage Convent (with
Gene Hackman and
Willem Dafoe).
* Vicksburg is featured in
Robert A. Heinlein's 1982 science fiction novel ''
Friday
Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...
'' as a town in the Lone Star Republic, a leading smugglers' port between Texas and the Chicago Imperium. The book's protagonist Friday Baldwin stayed there, particularly in the riverfront Lowtown, while trying to find a way into the Imperium.
* In the novel ''
Underground to Canada'' the protagonists Julilly and Liza are slaves on a cotton plantation near Vicksburg.
* Vicksburg was the focus o
four episodesof the American television series ''
Ghost Adventures'' during Season 19, with one episode dedicated to
Champion Hill Battlefield.
* On
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
's 1974 album ''
Caribou'', the song "Dixy Lily" contains the lyrics "Down from Louisiana on the Vicksburg run." in the chorus.
* Vicksburg is mentioned in
Mississippi Queen by
Mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
.
See also
*
USS ''Vicksburg'', 5 ships
*
Anchor Line, a prominent steamboat company on the Mississippi River from 1859 to 1898, which operated a steamboat called ''City of Vicksburg''
References
Further reading
* Rothman, Joshua D.: Flush Times and Fever Dreams: A Story of Capitalism and Slavery in the Age of Jackson. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2010.
* Cox, James L. ''The Mississippi Almanac''. (2001). .
*
External links
City of Vicksburg – official websiteVicksburg–Warren Economic Development Partnership*
*
*
{{Authority control
Cities in Mississippi
Cities in Warren County, Mississippi
Mississippi populated places on the Mississippi River
County seats in Mississippi
Populated places established in the 1790s
Micropolitan areas of Mississippi
1826 establishments in Mississippi
French-American culture in Mississippi